The present application relates to a stage system and a microscope, which are suitable for application, for example, to the field of observation of a biological sample (living body sample) through magnification.
Heretofore, a stage system has been proposed in which an L-shaped member for positioning a slide glass and a clip for pressing the slide glass against the L-shaped member are provided on a stage on which to mount the slide glass, and the slide glass is fixed at a predetermined position on the stage in such a manner as to be clamped between the L-shaped member and the clip (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2009-63753 (paragraph 0023, FIG. 4) and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2008-262100 (FIG. 6)).
Meanwhile, in the above-mentioned stage system, the L-shaped member and the clip are configured to press a side surface or a corner of the slide glass having a certain thickness; accordingly, the thickness of the clip is set to be roughly equal to or slightly smaller than the thickness of the slide glass.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1A, in the stage system 115, the slide glass SG mounted on the stage 141 is fixed by pressing the clip 150 against a side surface or a corner of the slide glass SG.
Meanwhile, in practice, a sample immobilized by a sealing medium MD is fixed in such a manner as to be sandwiched between the slide glass SG and a cover glass CG. In this instance, as shown in FIG. 1B, the cover glass CG and the sealing medium MD may in some cases be fixed in the state of protruding from the slide glass SG.
In such a case, in the stage system 115, as shown in FIG. 1C, an attempt to fix the slide glass SG by the clip 150 may cause the clip 150 to make contact with the sealing medium MD, which is protruding on the side surface of the slide glass SG, and to lift up the slide glass CG. As a result, it may be extremely difficult to fix the slide glass SG at a predetermined position.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a stage system and a microscope such that the accuracy in fixation of a slide glass can be enhanced.